Learning about automated businesses?

[TheIronStar]

I've read that people have made money through automated businesses and the like.

What sorts of businesses would qualify as such, though? I'm assuming online stores or the like?

I'm mainly interested because I have no real experience buying cash-generating assets.

Where would I go to learn more about (I'm guessing buying into) automated businesses?

[runningbird]

Well, one class of these are pyramid schemes. I've tried quite a few "Automatic Income Stream Generators" and stuff in my day. It's very clever marketing, but the only way to make money with them is to screw other people over.

Then there are things like owning a website where you can charge for advertising space. I guess landlords fall into this business category.

[TheIronStar]

Originally Posted by runningbird

Well, one class of these are pyramid schemes. I've tried quite a few "Automatic Income Stream Generators" and stuff in my day. It's very clever marketing, but the only way to make money with them is to screw other people over.

Well, that sort of stuff was what I wanted to avoid.

Not to mention that screwing other people over in such a fashion doesn't mean that one can't get screwed over oneself (being a part of a pyramid scheme is only advantageous, though nevertheless immoral, if one is in one of the echelons that still receives its money before the scheme's mastermind skips out).

Originally Posted by runningbird

Then there are things like owning a website where you can charge for advertising space. I guess landlords fall into this business category.

Yeah, I remember back in the day some people made automatically-generated web stores and the like. I don't know if anyone was particularly effective with that.

What do most people here use for their automated businesses?

I've considered the absentee landlord thing, but to my knowledge finding genuine deals for that isn't as easy as some of the old "foreclosure speculation gurus" would have some people believe.

[Brutha]

I've considered the absentee landlord thing, but to my knowledge finding genuine deals for that isn't as easy as some of the old "foreclosure speculation gurus" would have some people believe.

Making money isn't easy. If someone would find an easy way he would employ a lot of minimum wage people to do the work for him and take the profit for himself.

[TheIronStar]

Originally Posted by Brutha

Making money isn't easy. If someone would find an easy way he would employ a lot of minimum wage people to do the work for him and take the profit for himself.

That's as it may be, but that doesn't change the situation of too much money chasing too few deals.

Anyways, what do people here use as their automated businesses?

[SimonaRich]

4 hour work week explains everything about automated business models.